Leaning Back On Airplanes = Asshole?

I lean back on airplanes to sleep because I can't read, watch, or play video games without getting a little motion sickness, so it's not like I have much else to do. Regardless, I don't even lean all the way back unless there's no one behind me. Also, leg room is never that much of an issue for me.

Last time I was on a plane there was no one in front, behind or next to me. It was the most beautiful experience of my life.

I need an in-between option in this poll. It is an asshole thing to do if it disrupts the person behind you. If it doesn't, then you're fine. So one should ask the person behind them first before leaning back to see if they would mind. Problem solved.

I cant imagine Ryan is good person to be near in a plane... he is a pretty huge guy.

Don't fly coach. If you do suffer the consequences.

How does that steal leg room? Especially if you're just leaning slightly back... What?

Agreed. This is the thing about it: it's like a nuclear situation. Once some one leans back, we all have to.

I am 6' 5" and have no problem with it. How is your leg room taken away? It's not really.

You use the lean back? You're a [insert c-bomb].

It's way more than a 5-degree incline.

This is a nice thing to say. I think someone asked me once if it was okay, but it has happened so rarely that I'm suspecting that one time was actually in a dream.

I honestly don't see how it makes the person behind you experience's worse. The chair gets like 2 inches closer to you, and unless you have something in the way (laptop, that inflatable sleeping thing) then you can deal.

Yeah, no issue with leaning back. I'd have more of an issue sitting next to Ryan on a plane then him putting his seat back in front of me.

If leaning back was such an issue, wouldn't they just remove the function...

Also I am 6'4" and ask for an isle seat so I can move my legs out anyway...

I'm leaning back no matter what.

In general, flying on planes is not a great experience. Those seats are tiny even for regular sized people so to get mad at someone trying to get more comfortable is crazy. If it bothers you, just ask the person in front of you to put their seat up a bit. The seats feel like they barely recline so you don't really know how much of a bother it is. The baby can't just "stop" crying and the big person can't "stop" being big. Deal with it like an adult.

I once had an asshole who would lean back during a on-flight meal and refused to to return to normal position. Fucking flight attendants wouldn't do shit either. So basically airplanes sucks.

It's an unspoken rule. A general dick move.

I haven't rode on a long airplane flight so i guess i'm not really qualified to comment. If you're talking about leaning back all the way then i can how that would be an inconvenience to someone behind you if they're working on a laptop. However if you only lean back a couple of inches then i don't see how that would be a problem.

Um, yeah, wow. First of all, if I'm flying, the only time I won't lean back is when meals are being served. I find this a bit inconsiderate as people often lean forwards as they are eating and having a seat even 10 degrees back can really cramp your space while engaging in such an activity. Otherwise, no, this isn't inconsiderate at all.

While I am travelling I sure as hell am not going to refrain from tilting my seat back out of some unjustified sense of consideration to the passenger behind me when this is often some of the only sleep I may get while between destinations. You can't expect someone not to tilt their seat back to get comfortable on a 12 hour flight, which in itself is already a miserable time at best. Any passenger seated behind myself or anyone else with a seat tilted back, the minimal amount that it even allows you to go, cannot possibly be made so uncomfortable by this that they are going to honestly be aroused with anger or hatred; they are being bitter for the simple fact of being negative. If it is that much of an issue for you, don't fly in coach. Yeah, it is more expensive not to, but that is the choice you made, so deal with it. If you are in that much need of an extra 10 degrees of horizontal space that it totally ruins your demeanour to the degree of someone becoming an "asshole" to you, then pay for the upgrade, or deal with the mild inconvenience that you may be suffering for your faster method of safe travel.

It doesn't, but only if I can slap the passenger in front of me in the back of the head, and not be an asshole either.

There is barely any leg room as it is, so getting rid of even a tiny amount of someone else's is a dick move.

On long flights during the appropriate time, awesome. If you ask beforehand, awesome. Just because you decided to? You're a fucking asshole. It's very simple.

And what the hell do you respond to that question? Do you simply look them dead in the eye and say "Don't be an asshole."

I'm not going to pretend like I ever stepped foot on the shit end of a plane, but this thread is like people who can't afford parking complaining about taking the subway.

Business class>>>

Taking away leg room? Have some of you even been on an airplane before? I cannot see how the seat back pivoting a few degrees is taking away your leg room. It baffles me even more that someone would even think of engaging in an act of malice to equate what the "asshole" in front of them has done by tilting their seat back.

Here's another thought, check in early or pre-book your seat at the front row if this is a problem for you. Oh wait, that would require foresight and not allow an opportunity to bitch about another non-existent problem.

The only time when it's allowable to lean back is if everyone in the whole column leans back. Otherwise you're an asshole for doing it. Same with buses.

I think you think people would be more combative about this then they actually would be. Here's how it would probably go;

Potential Leaner: "Excuse me, would you mind if I leaned back my seat?"

Answer-er: "Sure, I don't mind." "I'm sorry but I don't have a lot of room and would rather if you didn't."

Potential Leaner: "Thanks!" "Ok, I understand."

DONE!

But with if the leaner really is an asshole and just says "I paid for my plane ticket and I will lean back if I damn well please and I will take a fart if I want to as well because fuck you I'm paying!"

Do you simply deal with it? I think you are to optimistic about assholes on planes.

Then the leaner needs to lighten the fuck up! Cause we're all on that plane together we gotta live in fucking harmony man.

ARE WE SUBTLY TALKING ABOUT YOU DARTH!!! ARE YOU THAT ASSHOLE!!!

Haven't listened to the podcast yet, but anyone who leans their seat back on an airplane is an inconsiderate sack of shit and can burn in hell, and whoever designed airplane seats with that capability in the first place is one of history's greatest monsters.

Fuck you if you lean your seat back.

I just came back from a business trip and I told my buddy that I thought that leaning your seat back was an asshole move and he was completely surprised by that. I'm over six foot so maybe it just impacts me more than some, but I always look behind me first and unless it's a little kid or an empty seat behind me, I don't lean back.

I agree that the airlines are the real assholes with their misuse of space.

Fat Joe knows whats up!

It's only acceptable if the seat behind you is empty. Otherwise you deserve to die painfully (and in a confined space).

I just jam my knees into the seat in front of me to prevent potential leanage. I occasionally get a nasty backward glance when the person in front of me discovers that their seat won't move. But hey, fuck that guy.

Just don't do it. I shared a class with some sub-human in college who no matter what took off his fucking shoes in class. Yeah sure you can do it but consider the fact that it makes you about 4% more comfortable and makes about 200% of the people around you hate your goddamn guts. Don't lean your seat back and keep your damn shoes on in public and everything's cool.

Some planes go back further than other, and some people have trees for legs. I have large legs and when there is a while lotta chair up in my grill it is crazy uncomfortable for hours.

This seems nutty to me, do I just only fly on good airlines? I doubt it, I've been on an Air Iberia flight where frost was forming on the ceiling and the lights turned on and off constantly, and even that had plenty of room if people leaned back.

Real dick move? Flying Trans pacific, near the back of the plane where it tapers to just two seats on the side, great you'd think, except for the 6'8 bastard that sits beside you and has his legs pressed into your space the whole time despite him having the aisle and thus plenty of room to spread out. Stepped on that fuckers foot everytime I got up. Oh and even he had space between his knee's and the seat in front of him when people leaned back.

I think the experience depends on the plane. I have only ever used one airline (Alaska) and the seats always seem really close together. I am generally already cramped on leg room, so when someone leans back, even slightly it does affect me. It does not really upset me that much though, as I am already usually uncomfortable and am used to being cramped, having long legs.

I don't see how you can fault somebody for using a reasonable function that is built into the actual equipment. Screw unwritten rules, if it's such a big problem than the airlines should remove the function from the chairs.

I personally don't lean back because I prefer sleeping sitting up, but I certainly don't think people who do lean back are assholes.

This. My legs usually touch the back of the seat in front of me normally so, yeah, if you lean your seat back I'm going to hope you somehow die by drowning in fire.

Planes are just assholes, man.

Thankfully I'm very small so I am not bothered when the person in front of me leans back. But, I have enough courtesy to ask the person behind me if it's okay. It's just etiquette in general.

Jesus Christ, pretty much anyone who's expressed contrary to the idea of it being an asshole move has shown no empathy for the person behind and only recognized their own discomfort from being on an airplane. Here's a tip: Everyone on the plane is miserable and uncomfortable, and you're benefiting from someone else's further discomfort. It's selfish and an assholeish. It's not even an 'unwritten rule', it's human decency.

I love how in modern society we get offered shitty products like seats with fuckall leg room and then fight amongst ourselves instead of pointing the finger at the airlines.

@eskimo said:

Hardly. Everyone complains about public services (though planes are technically private). But being given a shitty service is not an excuse to be a dick and make it worse for everyone else.

I would not use as harsh a word but is certainly not an ideal gesture.

@breton: My whole point is that it isn't that big of a deal. I get it, it's uncomfortable. I don't even recline the seat because I really don't see a point. The reality is that you need to check yourself if you get that worked up over 10cm less leg room. It's a huge 10cm, I know. And people should realize that (unfortunately, most do not). However, if it's that big of a deal, just ask the person in front of you to put their seat up. It makes no sense to sit there and quietly rage when you could easily tell the person your gripe. Most people probably don't even realize how much discomfort you are in. If they refuse then they are just being jerks but I would hazard a guess that most would move their seat back up.

Definitely assholes. Also tall people who sit in front of you in movie theaters.

@patman99: You're right, it's not that big of a deal and I don't know if Ryan used a rhetoric in the podcast to suggest otherwise. But asshole is casual term for me, and it's less so the fact that the person is doing it so much as their lack of empathy/care about the other person that makes them one. I don't quietly rage the whole flight, I get upset the moment I notice a person is actually going to do it and adjust for the rest of the flight. Yeah I could tell the person my gripe, but, now my social awkwardness will show, calling someone out on being an asshole is an asshole move in itself (case in point: the OP of this thread clearly took negative reaction to the accusation). And other people have posited the idea of asking the person behind you if it's okay to lean back, but what are people going to say? No? That's also being an asshole - just outright refusal of someone asking to do something isn't really socially appropriate.

Yeah, we screw ourselves over by being nice and not looking for confrontation. But it would be nicer if other people were nice and could comprehend why they shouldn't lean their seat back in the first place.

@hector: I think you're trying to be silly with the theatre analogy as you're comparing a conscious choice to a biological disposition, but I'm 6'1" and am always conscious of people behind me and slouch. I sacrifice my own comfort (slouching isn't really uncomfortable) because I'm nice and am able to empathize with the person behind me who would be getting pissed off every time my head moves in front of their field of vision - as I have had happen to me when some tall asshole sits in front of me and doesn't care about anyone but himself.

When I lean back, and you happen to be behind me, why don't you lean the fuck back as well? That lean is literally the only bit of extra comfort that flying box offers you (AC doesn't always work), so fuck you twice for thinking me an asshole. Don't like it? Move up a class. Can't afford to? Suffer with me, motherfucker.

Or, ask me to move it back if you feel like you might die otherwise. I will most likely oblige as I am not actually a gaping asshole.

@breton said:

Jesus Christ, pretty much anyone who's expressed contrary to the idea of it being an asshole move has shown no empathy for the person behind and only recognized their own discomfort from being on an airplane. Here's a tip: Everyone on the plane is miserable and uncomfortable, and you're benefiting from someone else's further discomfort. It's selfish and an assholeish. It's not even an 'unwritten rule', it's human decency.

chill man, damn.

You are blowing this way out of proportion. At worst this is impolite behavior.

yes it's polite to ask before leaning back in a chair and I hope most people would , however it is not automatically rude to do without asking. The functionality is built into the damn chair and has been for decades upon decades. If it was really such a problem than the airlines would have removed it by now. Even they aren't that stupid.

It's not unreasonable that a person who pays a ton of money for airline fee would expect to be able to use the seat they paid good money to. It's also not unreasonable to think a person might lean back without realizing it might be uncomfortable for an unusually tall person behind them.

It doesn't bother me if someone in front of me leans back. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world but then again airplane seats aren't comfortable to begin with. It's hardly worth getting upset about.

leaning back is hardly the worst thing that happens on airline anyway. The jerks who take overhead compartments close to the cabin instead above their seat so they can get off more quickly are the worst imo.